This card shows people’s favorite Thanksgiving side by side and there is a lot of love for mashed potatoes

The turkey is the most iconic part of Thanksgiving dinner, and not to take away its shine or anything, but it’s definitely not the best part of the meal. Turkey is just a way for my uncle to use his new electric sculptor and a container that I can eat a ton of delicious sauce for. My friends, as we all know, it’s all about the sides, and this year a poll found that when it comes to our favorites, Americans are full of surprises.

Career site Zippia recently posted a map of people’s favorite sides for Thanksgiving by state. They used Google Trends to find the favorite of over 20 traditional side dishes to see which ones won. It’s not a perfect system because every family serves something a little different but it’s still fun to watch!

© Zippia
most popular thanksgiving sides zippia card

Unsurprisingly, mashed potatoes were the top pick, coming as a favorite for 10 different states. Is it really Thanksgiving without some mash? Mac and cheese was then the favorite of seven different states, and thinking about this dish already makes me hungry. Some other main contenders are the green bean casserole, the buns, and the stuffing. Turns out people love carbohydrates! Not really surprising.

This card also highlighted some regional differences, like the stuffing versus dressing and the rolls versus cookies. Some states also went on their own, like Maine being the only ones that liked the best of the side salad, and Indiana touted the stuffed eggs. All I know is all your Thanksgiving menus look pretty delicious, and I’d love to fill my plate with absolutely everything on this menu. You can see the full breakdown on the Zippia site.